MOSSYROCK — Call him crunchtime Kolb. When Mossyrock needed him the most, Viking junior Keegan Kolb came through and saved the season.
Trailing Pe Ell 51-49 with less than 30 seconds to go in a loser-out, district playoff game at home, Kolb leaped out of bounds to save a loose ball and launched it directly into teammate Zack Munoz’ hands under the basket for a quick bucket to tie it up.
A Pe Ell player fell on the Trojans’ next possession, giving the ball back to the Vikings with 15.4 seconds left. Mossyrock coach Adam Deck drew up his first game-winning play in three years of being a head coach and eight as an assistant: isolate Kolb, his best one-on-one player.
“I wanted to give it to Keegan,” Deck said. “He’s impossible to guard and I’ll say it on record right now, nobody can guard him one-on-one. They just can’t do it. So I was like, ‘Why not get it to him and let him go to work?’ That’s what he did.”
Kolb received the ball, broke his defender’s ankle with a crossover and connected on a left-handed lay-in to give Mossyrock a 53-51 lead with three seconds left. Pe Ell never even got a final shot off as the Trojans fumbled their final possession and Mossyrock players, fans and students stormed the court.
“As soon as I did the crossover on him, I knew it was going in,” said Kolb, who finished with a game-high 25 points.
It looked bleak for the Vikings in the final minutes as Pe Ell mounted a frenzied comeback attempt after Mossyrock vaulted out to an 18-6 lead in the first quarter.
But the Trojans struck back, reeling off a 16-6 run to close the first half and cut the deficit to 24-22 heading into the locker room.
The Trojans kept the momentum to start the second half, jumping out on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 29-24 as Mossyrock’s offense went silent in a turnover-filled bout.
Mossyrock went on a 9-4 run midway through the third quarter to tie it up at 33-33 before the Trojans took off again to close the quarter on a 7-2 run and take a 40-36 lead heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle as the two teams traded buckets before the Trojans went up 51-49 with two minutes to go. Mossyrock came up short on three consecutive trips down the floor before Kolb’s game-altering spark in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.
Pe Ell’s season comes to an end with the loss.
“I give a lot of credit to (Pe Ell coach) Chris Phelps,” Deck said. “He always has his kids playing hard. They’re the most physical team in the league. They really held Keegan down there for a bit. It’s becoming a good rivalry.”
Jesse Zard led the Trojans with 16 points and Wyatt Marrs added 15. Five Trojan seniors played their final high school games: Zard, Marrs, Joseph Krafczyk, Michael Morales and Aaiden Lee.
For Mossyrock, Easton Kolb finished with 12, Hunter Isom had seven, Warren Nelson five and Zack Munoz four.
“I give our kids a lot of credit,” Deck said. “They just kept coming back and getting down and coming back. They just kept fighting and fighting and, man, I just love this group.”
Mossyrock now moves on to face 1B Coastal League’s No. 2 seed, North River, in another loser-out contest at 6 p.m, Tuesday, at Montesano.
